Category European Cities
A Few Hours In Vitoria & Basque Football, Spain
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Region, Spain My friend reminded me that it is four years ago that we paid a wonderful visit to the Basque region of Spain. I am therefore re-posting my blogs from that long weekend trip. As we had plenty of time over the next two days to explore the rest of Bilbao, we […]
Blessed Bilbao
Bilbao, October 2016 My friend reminded me that it is four years ago that we paid a wonderful visit to the Basque region of Spain. I am therefore re-posting my blogs from that long weekend trip. I had been to many areas of Spain (starting with an infamous ’83 trip to Benidorm), but never the […]
European Train Tour #1 – Spain
Europe is a wonderful continent. Culturally & geographically diverse and incredibly easy to navigate from the Arctic to the Mediterranean or even the Atlantic to the Pacific. The best way to explore the region is by train with a vast network of train tracks criss-crossing the continent, connecting amazing cities and countries. Arm yourself with […]
European Train Tour #3 – Norway
Europe is a wonderful continent. Culturally & geographically diverse and incredibly easy to navigate from the Arctic to the Mediterranean or even the Atlantic to the Pacific. The best way to explore the region is by train with a vast network of train tracks criss-crossing the continent, connecting amazing cities and countries. Arm yourself with […]
European Train Tour #4 – Eastern Europe
Train Tours Around Eastern Europe This is more an account of several train tours undertaken between 2006 and 2014, some of which are featured in my book about train tours in the Balkans. 2006, Istanbul – Thessaloniki – Meteora – Skopje – Lake Ohrid – Nis – Sofia We were due to take a October […]
Monday Morning Blues – Art Nouveau Lion, Riga, Latvia
This week’s MMB comes from my first and last decent length trip of 2020 when I did a Riga/Tallinn combination with Mrs Wilbur and our friend Chris. The Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) district of the Latvian capital may well be the best such district in Europe – unless you know better that is? Why not take […]
Sunday Photos – Tour de France
With the delayed Tour de France now in progress, I am reminded of our train/car tour in 2015 when we started in Nice and ended in Paris via Avignon, Lyon, Strasbourg and Eparney. Here are a few shots from the tour. French Cemetery, Verdun, France Palace of the Popes, Avignon Abbaye de Sénanque, Provence Cannes
Balkans Tour 2017 – The Environs of Skopje
Continuing the recap of my 2017 Balkans tour….. Skopje, North Macedonia You may have gathered that I do not like the ‘new’ Skopje, the €500 million vanity project that looks like it was dreamed up by Liberace on acid. Thankfully we arrived armed with a couple of decent things to take in if, as was […]
Skopje Then & Now (2006 v 2017)
The ‘new’ Skopje is not my cup of tea. I first visited in 2006 and loved the vibe of the place. Authentic, a little run down but an earthy energy to the city. Fast-forward a decade and what I found was massively different, a horrendous beautification project akin to a woman having plastic surgery to […]
Balkans Tour 2017 – Tirana
Continuing my look back of my 2017 Balkans Tour – how did Tirana 2017 compare with Tirana 2007? We had just arrived by marathon bus journey from Sarande in Southern Albania and dilapidated taxi to our hotel from Tirana’s run down bus station…….. Tirana We found our hotel to be delightful and soon forgot our […]
